Antonacci's Late 3 Lifts CCRI over Massasoit 64-63!

01.14.16

Alexis Antonacci

Warwick, R.I. – January 14, 2016: The CCRI Lady Knights basketball team traveled to
Massasoit Community College in Brockton, MA to play the Warriors for a Region XXI
non-league game on Tuesday evening. The Lady Knights won in dramatic fashion as freshman
guard Alexis Antonacci (Plainview, NY) sank 3-pointer with 5.2 second left and held
on for the one point 64-63 victory. With the win CCRI improves to .500 overall at
11-11 and 4-3 in Region XXI play.

The Lady Knights had beaten the Warriors 74-45 on December 1st and figured to be in
for an easier contest but the Warriors utilized their home court advantage to make
this a much different affair. Even on the road the Lady Knights did maintain an advantage
as the game progressed leading 35-26 at the half.

However in the second half the Warriors gained momentum and battled their way back
into a one-possession game. With 20 seconds left Cynthia Liang sank a go ahead 3-pointer
to give Massasoit a 62-61 lead. On the next possession for CCRI they drew up a play
and got a shot off with under 10 seconds on the clock which missed but bounced out
beyond the 3-point arc where a waiting Antonacci launched and made a 3-pointer to
give the Lady Knights a 64-62 lead. But the game was not over. On the ensuing Warriors
possession they drew up a play to get a shot for their best jump shooter Natascha
Elias (shooting 31.4% from 3-point arc) an open shot and in her attempt she was fouled
attempting a 3-pointer sending her to the charity stripe shooting three shots with
just 2.1 seconds remaining. Elias was fouled by Antonacci who fouled out of the game.
What a juxtaposition of fate for the young point guard who had just sank a 3-pointer
on one end of the court but now has fouled out and could be the goat if Elias makes
her free throws. Elias calmly buried the first shot. Fortunately for CCRI and Antonacci
she missed the next two. CCRI was able to inbound the ball with no issues to end the
game with the narrowest of margins 64-63 in a game for the ages.

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Kennethah Harden (Roosevelt, NY) who charted
her 17th double-double scoring a team-high 16 points while ripping down a game-high
14 rebounds and adding two steals and two assists. Harden was aided by Alexis Antonacci
who hit the game-winning shot and scored a total of 14 points with five rebounds,
four assists and three steals. Also having a good game for CCRI were their Co-Captains:
Lyric Artis (Albany, NY) score 11 points with seven rebounds and three steals and
Haley Beausoleil (Plainfield, CT) added 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and
a steal.

The next game for the Lady Knights will be this Sunday the 17th at 1:00pm when they
host the Seawolves of Southern Maine Community College from Portland, ME.

The Community College of Rhode Island, New England’s largest comprehensive community
college, enrolls nearly 18,000 students in credit courses and thousands more in non-credit
and job training classes. Its athletic program boasts 12 varsity programs and an academic
support program for all student-athletes.